


Prompt: “Have you ever wanted to hate someone?”

by aweekofsaturdays



Series: tumblr ficlets 2015 [3]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Dark!Parse, Gen, Hockey, Hotels, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Kent Parson is not a nice person, M/M, Married Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, NHL, Rivalry, Trash Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 13:19:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4264689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aweekofsaturdays/pseuds/aweekofsaturdays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes so little to tip the scales.</p><p><a href="http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/">OMG! Check Please</a> belongs to <a href="http://ngoziu.tumblr.com/">Ngozi</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prompt: “Have you ever wanted to hate someone?”

Someday, Eric Bittle would probably forgive Kent Parson. He’d forgive the way that Jack still closed off whenever anyone tried to offer him a beer, couldn’t take the good painkillers after something happened on the ice and stayed up sweating into the night, unable to sleep through the agony of a broken wrist or a pulled muscle. Maybe Bitty would at some point suck it up and be the bigger man in the only way he knew how, and he would look Kent Parson right in the face and pretend like nothing had ever happened at all.

But today, in this hotel, before this NHL game, is not that day. Brought up short by a near-collision in the hallway, Bitty raises his head to apologize, and feels like someone’s checked him hard against the boards. Just a glance and it knocks the wind out of him, throwing him for a loop for a few important moments. Something in the way the air catches in his chest - his vision even slides a little like he’s not sure Parse is real. Eric’s ring hangs heavy on his left hand; he is not prepared for this moment.

“Hey, Bittle,” comes that upstate drawl - casual, so casual. As if it isn’t fucking weird that he’s here, practically stalking Jack - Parse clearly isn’t supposed to be in the hotel before this game, isn’t supposed to see Jack from closer than 500 feet until they’re on the ice. Kent’s eyes flash as he smirks, gets a little too close, gets up in Bitty’s space like he always had. Eric backs up, nervous, not quite realizing he’s cornered until his back hits a wall. The smirk widens, becomes a smug grin. “Always did have quite the effect on you, didn’t I, Eric?”

Bitty winces, reaches up to rub his temple to create some distance; his ring catches the light, glittering in the weak glare from the hotel fluorescents. The smile drops off Kent’s face so fast, he can practically hear it shatter against the tile floor. “Finally made it official, huh?” Parse asks sourly, eyes going dark and hard, all teasing gone. “Good luck with that, I hear marriage to an addict is the best.” He leans closer, and Bittle almost thinks Parse is going to kiss him, savage and cruel, and his stomach goes tight with something he can’t quite identify - but Parse just hisses, “Tell Jack I’ll see him out there,” and as suddenly as he’d showed, he’s gone.

Bitty stays for a moment, light-headed and disconcerted, catching his breath. He shakes himself out as he shoves away from the wall; Jack needs him, that’s the most important thing - they can’t risk anything that would send him down again. Squaring his shoulders and pretending that the pit in his stomach before every game hasn’t just widened up into a crater, Eric heads down the hall to find Jack, hoping for their sakes that this one is a win.

**Author's Note:**

> Posted on tumblr [here](http://aweekofsaturdays.tumblr.com/post/123152981012/parse-and-bitty-13) if you'd like to reblog. Comments are always appreciated!


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